Seemingly, Fed asked Basel for 2 million euros appearance money for next year (this year he reputedly received 500,000 euros) and the organisers said they couldn't afford it. I believe there were several anti-Fed articles in the Swiss press at the time that the news broke. It could be that he is more popular in Britain than he is in Switzerland!

Goodness! that's over 2.5 million in USD.

He's reported being not as popular in his country but that's based on a friend of mine who was in Switzerland in 2008 I think. He didn't see any overwhelming sign of Federer anywhere while he was visiting. Now this friend was living in London, England at that time and told me later he definitely found Federer much more popular in UK. I guess Federer is much more popular outside his country - has to be. I wonder how would we have felt if Andy were to make that sort of demand.

All any sane person can do is laugh long and hard when confronted with such unadulterated cobblers.

When any small country produces a truly world class sportsmen he/she is absolutely venerated by the population of that country. That's BigNose's Law. Fed isn't so much world class as potentially the greatest ever and you can put money on the fact that 99% of Swiss people absolutely love the guy.

It's interesting that Fed's opting to play no warm-up tournaments before the AO - I don't think he's ever done this before? It's noteworthy that he's chosen to skip Miami too - out of the Masters events, I'd have thought that Shanghai would be the logical one to skip.

Yes, no warm-up tourney before the AO. Very interesting indeed. Not too surprised by Miami - Shanghai is probably more of an emotional choice given the amount of fan-base he has there. He basically chose the ones with the most winning chances minus Basel.

Yes, at this point I'd think so. I don't think he cares about dropping points at this point.

This is what I've posted on the other forum this morning to have a discussion. The discussion was already ongoing.

A look at Federer’s career in two parts.

2003 – 2007: 49 tilesMajors: 12Masters: 17Others: 20

2008 – 2012: 23 titlesMajors: 5Masters: 9Others: 9

You can say he lost his edge since 2008 and his peak years were from 2003 to 2007 or you can say that the 2nd part of his career saw better competition overall.

Followed by this:

Federer is a highly consistent player; that's why it's very hard to define his peak years. If we go by his results only, then it suggests, he struggled in his later years and perhaps he was past his peaks years by then (2008). But if we go by his consistency alone, then it suggests, he saw tougher competition in the later part of his career while he was still at his peak.

I was reading an article today that suggested federers reduced schedule is mainly so he can squeeze in more lucrative exo's in his winding down years, I believe he has a few at the end of this year. Seems he wants to swell his already overflowing coffers before he finally hangs up his racquet for good.

All any sane person can do is laugh long and hard when confronted with such unadulterated cobblers.

When any small country produces a truly world class sportsmen he/she is absolutely venerated by the population of that country. That's BigNose's Law. Fed isn't so much world class as potentially the greatest ever and you can put money on the fact that 99% of Swiss people absolutely love the guy.

Interesting that any Swiss guests we had visiting while we were doing B&B and we had quite a lot because they like whisky - were not particularly interested in tennis. Consequently, they didn't seem to be particularly interested in Fed either and were quite surprised that he was such a big name in Britain.

Smugfed can miss Masters can't he, on account of being over 30, hence why no Miami I supoose.

He can do what he likes, as can any player once they've won 700 ATP Tour matches, which total was reached by Fed during the French Open, but I guess they'd have to be at least 30 anyway in order to achieve this!

It's interesting that Fed's opting to play no warm-up tournaments before the AO - I don't think he's ever done this before?

And here's the reason why -

Roger Federer To Relax Before The South American Exhibition Tour [10sballs.com, 18 Nov]

Roger Federer is keen for a post-season holiday fortnight before embarking upon one of the few experiences still left to him in tennis as he plays an exhibition series in South America prior to the start of the 2013 season after losing to Novak Djokovic for the title at the World Tour Finals.

But while disappointed at not winning a seventh trophy this season as well as a record seventh at the season wrap-up in London, the 31-year-old has big plans for the coming months, starting with his exhibition series in Brazil, Argentina and Colombia.

Federer says that the new, longer ATP off-season allows players the luxury of choice as to how they spend it – and he plans to use a week or so for a visit to a part of the world where he has never been.

“I know I’m playing exhibitions, but I think my situation is pretty unique. I’ve never been to South America as a professional tennis player,” said the 31-year-old. “I couldn’t be more excited right now for that trip. “But I made sure I have a two-week vacation before that and the preparation for South America .”

Federer said that the countdown starts almost immediately for 2013. “For me this (trip) is the beginning of the build-up and the workouts. And on top of it, it’s a lot of fun.

“Plus I’m not playing any exhibitions after that, like I have in the past. I’m not playing the first week of the year either. I’ve given myself enough space. It’s about just making sure you manage your schedule correctly.”

^^Thanks for the info Aileen, that explains it. Seems like a lot of the players are using the longer off-season to cash in on extra exhibitions. Bit of a risk though not doing any events straight before the AO (even something like Hopman Cup or Kooyong is good for practise against other top players).

^ I actually find it quite irritating that, having spent years moaning about the length of the Tour and how players wanted more time for rest and recovery, the ones at the top are still playing matches, albeit exhibition ones, although I can appreciate somebody like Djokovic who's doing it with the intention of using the money for charitable purposes in his own country. Like you though I'd have thought that playing Kooyong, or even Abu Dhabi, would have been a must for Fed, but maybe his over-inflated ego doesn't feel the need!